


The Ash Tree Lane AWE

by priestessamy



Category: Control (Video Game), House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Trans Female Character, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24918334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/priestessamy/pseuds/priestessamy
Summary: This is not for you.The FBC is going to be launching an expedition to an AWE in rural Virginia. A house not unlike their headquarters, with shifting walls, possibly sentient. And Emily wants to go along. Jesse just can't say no to that face.
Relationships: Jesse Faden/Emily Pope
Comments: 20
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While this is a crossover with House of Leaves, I try my best to keep it from being completely incomprehensible to Control fans. But with enough bits and pieces for people who like both. I do also play a little bit with the lore of the book anyway, so it's all sort of a jumbled mess regardless.

"I mean, can you believe the things we could learn from this??" Emily was pacing around her office, giddy with excitement. Jesse adored that about her, but she wasn't sure she could share in it this time around.

"Sort of feels like you didn't read the report the whole way through... This thing sounds like The Oldest House on steroids. Like some kind of nightmare version of it. And this place is already nightmarish enough!"

That didn't seem to be getting through. Emily had that starry-eyed look. The one she got when Science was the only thing on her mind. ~~Could you be jealous of an entire discipline? Jesse certainly was.~~ "It's not just this house on Ash Tree Lane, though! It's a movie that doesn't exist. A book that does exist. People that don't exist. But... they do exist! Schroedinger's cat is supposed to be a thought experiment, not a... a house in rural Virginia!" She stopped walking all of a sudden and stared at a blank spot on the wall. "I'm going."

"What??" Jesse jumped up to her feet, blood suddenly pumping."Emily, this isn't just a teleporting rubber duck or an attention-starved fridge. This is a shifting place with malicious intent. You could die. Hell, _I_ could die! All the Service Weapons and Objects of Power in the world can only protect me so much."

That finally seemed to deflate her, at least a little bit. She clutched at her clipboard, holding it to her chest. It was a comforting action she repeated a lot. "You're going to be there, and we'll have rangers too. You'll keep me safe."

 _My face is on fire. My skin is lava now. This woman is going to kill me before we ever get to this murder house . My heart is going to burst out of my chest. Goddammit. _Somewhere inside herself, Jesse heard that familiar tinkling noise that meant Polaris was laughing at her predicament. It happened more and more frequently these days. "...I guess we're going to have to fast-track your field training then."

Seeing her face light up made it all completely worth it.

* * *

Having superpowers had made Jesse a bit sloppy, as she was quickly finding out. Despite being the hero of the FBC, she was getting handily outpaced by her Head of Research. By the time they passed the finish line of the Bureau's running track, she was doubled over, hands on her knees, breathing heavy. "How... How do you do that?"

"I like to work out in my free time," she said casually. Of course Jesse should have guessed as much. If one looked at Emily with a careful eye (and she did, on occasion) they could see that she had a fair few defined muscles. "Cardio is important for longevity. And I find something very... 'zen' about running." She took a few more steps, stretching her arms out and then up. "My mind tends to be rather active, but when I go running, it shuts off for a while."

That made a lot of sense. And already Jesse was feeling maybe a little bit guilty for thinking that Emily wouldn't be able to make it in the field. It left her wondering what else her friend was hiding behind that unassuming appearance. ~~It was also pretty hot.~~ "Hah, well, keep it up and you're gonna pass that exam with flying colors."

"I intend to," she said, looking more serious than she had in a while.

The truth was, Jesse was kind of enjoying this. And she didn't really want the fun to end. So she figured she might as well keep administering this preliminary examination for as long as she could get away with it. "You've proven you can run. Let's see if you can fight."

A little ways down the hall was a room with windowed walls and a collection of safety gear. As she and Emily slipped on their padding, she took a very brief glance at her co-worker. Yeah, she was... definitely muscular. ~~And so freaking pretty. And she looked damn good, even in a pair of regulation shorts and shirt.~~ Jesse finally caught herself and stopped before someone else noticed (Polaris not included, because that bitch knew from minute one). She slid the padded guards over her hands and took a steady stance in front of her. "Alright, show me your form."

Emily curled in her fists and held one up to guard herself, the other firing out and colliding with the padding. It wasn't much to write home about, but at least she knew how to do it properly.

"Come on, I know you can do better than that. Let me have it. I can take it."

They locked eyes for a moment, and Emily suddenly broke out in a grin. "You asked for it, Faden." Her fists launched out in a series of one-two strikes. With the last few, Jesse could actually feel it resonating through her arm. "How about that??"

Jesse returned her grin and nodded. "That's what I'm talking about. Keep it going!"

* * *

"Okay, make sure you're holding it steady." Unlike exercising, this was clearly something Emily had little familiarity with. Her grip on the gun was unsteady, unsure. At least her stance was good. "You act like the damn thing is gonna blow up in your hand, Em."

"Scientifically speaking, that's exactly and precisely what it is designed to do," she muttered, her breathing shaky. "A localized combustion intended to launch a piece of metal over 1500 miles an hour, at a target some distance away, in order to cause-"

Jesse sighed softly. "What I mean is that the safety is still on. You're going to be fine." _She's shaking like a leaf. This may be the thing that breaks her desire to go out in the field. Guns are terrifying. I should know, I've taken hundreds of bullets over the last few months. Not to mention the magical one I can will into existence. So it's not like I can judge her. After all, Emily has helped me remove a fair few chunks of metal from my flesh._ "Just breathe slow out your nose, take in a deep breath, squeeze the trigger nice and even. Brace for the recoil." _And hope you never have to actually use it._

Finally, Emily nodded, following each of the instructions she was given. Her form was certainly impeccable. She flipped the safety, grasped the gun just right, and fired it off just as she was supposed to. But still, theory and execution were two separate things. And the experience clearly surprised her, because Emily gave a loud squeak of surprise as the gun went off, the bullet going a bit wide and hitting the corner of the target paper. "Gah... Horrible." ~~Too cute.~~

"My first time, I couldn't even hit the actual paper. You're doing fine."

Sadly, she put the gun down on the small counter, sighing softly. "No, I'm not. I almost let the gun kick back into my forehead. Can you imagine how disastrous I would be in a combat scenario?"

 _It's a confidence issue. She knows where her strengths lie, and her weaknesses. And if something isn't a strength, then it's not worth it. Sounds familiar..._ Operating more on instinct, Jesse picked up the gun and handed it back to Emily. Then she stepped in behind her, helping to brace her arms. It wasn't until they were in position that she even thought about the consequences of her actions. Thankfully, Emily couldn't see her burning face. Unfortunately, Polaris could see and hear everything, and she was very amused at the moment. _Shut up..._ "Do it again. You're a scientist, you know that proper experimentation takes repetition and all that. So give it another shot."

Emily huffed softly before her face hardened, just a bit. Same as before, she followed all the instructions carefully, eventually firing off another bullet. Jesse helped to keep her steady, and this time she was much closer to the intended target. In a fit of glee, Emily put the gun down before whirling around to give Jesse a tight hug. "Haha! Did you see that?? That was amazing!" She pulled back slowly from the embrace, and for just a brief, beautiful moment, the two of them stood there - lightly touching, eyes locked.

A second later and it was over, each of them breaking away, staring off into different corners of the room. Jesse heard more chiming laughter in her head. _Shut. Up._

* * *

For the millionth time, Jesse rotated the manuscript in her hands, attempting to read text that was both upside down and backwards. For all the weird and confusing shit she'd seen since becoming Director, this still somehow managed to stand out. If this were just a book, it would be merely strange. A movie within an academic book within a personal account all shoved into a fictional account that was actually written by real people from the movie that didn't exist. It made her head hurt just thinking about it.

Eventually she gave up and set the manuscript down. She wasn't terribly good at literature and metaphors. What mattered to her were the facts. That, at least, was something she and Emily had in common.

Back in the nineties, a family moved into a house that turned out to be... wrong. Walls would defy the laws of space and probably time too. A hallway appeared where none existed before, leading into a labyrinthine hell extending for miles. A giant spiral staircase going down into the earth. The father and his obsession with the house . His wife's nervous breakdown. His brother, the professor, the explorers, all the people that came and went during those tumultuous months. The disappearances and the deaths. The kids, inexplicably, grew up to be fairly healthy. Chad became a writer, Daisy a performer. They poured all their frustration and confusion into page and song. And when they became aware of the FBC, they contacted them, certain they would be turned away. Instead, the Ash Tree Lane AWE was the talk of the entire bureau.

Knowing just how dangerous it was, Jesse was very careful about putting together a team to investigate the place. The stories that Chad and Daisy told spoke to just how many ways one could be utterly crushed by that house .

Thinking about Emily going there... it terrified her. Jesse didn't know the first thing about playing bodyguard to someone. And it didn't matter how much skill her friend might have shown. This was going to be akin to stepping willingly into hell because you wanted to poke around. But... and this was important... she wasn't sure she knew how to tell Emily 'no'. It was an uphill struggle just to get her to stop calling her 'Director'. Saying she wasn't allowed to investigate the phenomenon of the century was pretty much impossible.

"Jesse!"

 _Speak of the devil._ "Emily?" She glanced up from her desk to see the woman gliding eagerly into the office.

Without missing a beat, she closed the distance between them and slammed an official-looking certificate down. "I did it! I completed my training, I passed the exam! I can go with you!" A second later, she caught herself and seemed to calm down somewhat. Her cheeks seemed flushed, but Jesse chalked that up to pure adrenaline and excitement. "I-I mean I can go. To see the AWE. To study it! Isn't this great?"

"Yeah... great..." Jesse muttered softly, obviously not feeling quite the same way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated the tags for the story. I just want to give everyone a heads-up that I will be writing Jesse as a trans woman. If that's an issue for you, might be better to turn back now.

"Hah. My first time ever flying in a helicopter..." Jesse loaded up all of her supplies into the storage compartment of the Bureau vehicle, laughing out her nervousness.

Emily nodded in agreement and understanding. "Mine too. I've lived a pretty quiet life, all things considered." She glanced down at the building they were standing on. Both women silently mused on the strange knowledge that the interior of the building ought to be stretching far above their heads in that moment. "I mean, relatively speaking. I'm sure a university researcher would laugh at me saying something like that."

Unsure what else could be said to cap off that perfect summary of their lives, Jesse just laughed softly. She then hauled herself up into the main cabin of the helicopter before offering a hand to Emily. ~~Their hands met, skin touching, electricity sparking, senses flaring, hearts pounding.~~ She gladly took it and allowed herself to be helped inside. Each one took a seat and settled in for the brief journey south. Jesse retrieved the walkman she'd been given by Ahti, Emily retrieving her own copy of the book that had started all of this. Every now and then, Jesse would catch her flipping back and forth between pages, highlighting things, rotating the text, clearly getting lost in it. It was charming.

The trip was only three hours, and they spent most of it in a kind of peaceful silence. This was par for the course for the two of them. It was either Jesse telling stories and Emily geeking out about science, or simply existing in the same space with a kind of pleasant warmth. It was something that Jesse really appreciated about the woman. It was hard to find someone that could be quiet without making it awkward.

Before she knew it, their helicopter was touching down in a broad field outside a plain-looking house. It was hard to explain just how... average it was. Nothing exceptional in the construction of it, save perhaps for the lack of windows.

They stepped out into the early afternoon sunshine. Jesse stretched her arms up over her head, letting out a low groan. ~~She completely missed the fact that Emily was watching her the entire time.~~ "I know our entire job is dealing with mundane objects with strange powers, but this still feels very... mundane. Like... do you think maybe there's nothing here at all?"

She seemed completely unphased by the idea. Emily just shrugged and began unloading their bags. "Well, then I suppose we get to have a nice little vacation away from the hustle and bustle of the city! So it's basically win-win."

The thought of them just spending a few quiet days hiding from the world did sound... ~~romantic~~ kind of nice. Granted, they would still have various rangers and researchers around too. But it wouldn't exactly be difficult to hide away. Just go ten minutes in any direction and you're sure to be away from pretty much all signs of life. So Jesse was willing to take what she could get here. "We probably shouldn't count our chickens before they hatch. C'mon, we should start getting base camp set up before the others start rolling in."

* * *

It was kind of funny. Reading the book, Jesse had found it interesting that newer technology seemed to fail in this house . It was just like the Bureau back in New York. You couldn't really depend on stuff like smart phones and fancy computers. So here they were with stuff not so different from Will Navidson's gear. The most advanced thing that they had brought along was a word processor so that Emily could take her notes with some degree of ease. Otherwise it was all dependable, sturdy cameras and lights, and old-school radios. Even if they already knew that they would stop working pretty soon into the expedition.

'Expedition'. That was a word that Chad and Daisy had gone to great lengths to point out was absolutely absurd when you were talking about looking around a home. But working in The Oldest House had prepared Jesse well for the concept of spelunking into a goddamn domicile in the countryside.

At the moment, they were going over each hallway and room, checking to make sure that everything lined up with the blueprints they had acquired. Admittedly, Jesse was mostly just eyeballing it, making sure that everything seemed to have the right vibes. Emily was the one going at it with two different tape measures. There were at least three more scattered across their various gear. The first sign that things were going sideways would be shifting walls.

"Everything is completely normal, thus far. But that's to be expected. I assume the house doesn't show it's true nature until its occupants are more settled."

Talking about buildings in terms of sentient thought was not comforting. Jesse distracted herself by glancing back down at the blueprints laid out on the floor. "So. Possibility A: The exact same things as before will happen. Stretching wall, five-and-a-half-minute hallway, floorless kitchen..." She pointed out each spot on the designs, as if she could possibly make some kind of plan of attack for any of these scenarios. "Or. Possibility B: literally anything else. The living room turns into another dining room. The walls all disappear. The first and second floors swap places."

There was suddenly a hand on top of her own. Jesse looked up and saw Emily kneeling across from her, holding her hand, watching her intently. ~~It would have been so easy to just lean across and plant a kiss on those lips, guide her down to the carpeted floor and do what adults did.~~ "Jesse, it's going to be fine. We deal with a transforming, impossible building daily. This is nothing new. We're going to be okay." ~~Just a little kiss. No big deal.~~

"Direct Faden! Dr. Pope!" The voice of ranger Melissa Martinez from downstairs snapped both women out of the Moment they were sharing. Jesse hastily pulled back her hand and laughed nervously. "We've got civilians approaching!"

"That's probably the Navidsons... I suppose I'll have to cut my pep talk short." Emily stood up and brushed herself off, then began rolling the blueprints back up. "Ready?"

Jesse, face still red, brain still mush, just nodded her head and started heading downstairs. "Yeah..."

* * *

Chad and Daisy. Johnny and Poe. Mark and Anna. The two siblings went by quite a few pseudonyms across their story. But in the end, they were just two kids desperately trying to sort out the trauma of their childhood. They were wisely standing far away from the house proper. Which officially made them smarter than the entire FBC. Jesse stepped outside to meet them while Emily hung back with Martinez.

Both siblings looked a little surprised at her appearance. In the office, Jesse maintained the more formal look since it seemed to give her the air of authority she didn't always feel naturally. But this was field work, and sometimes you had to go back to the classics - jeans, black shirt, leather jacket. No doubt she didn't exactly fit the look of 'government agent', much less 'Bureau Director'. "Navidsons. Didn't really expect to actually see you out here. Can't say I would blame you if you never wanted to see this place again."

She shook each hand in turn, and the siblings finally seemed to adjust to her appearance. Chad seemed to mostly be quiet, Daisy the more vocal one. "Trust me, this is good-fucking-bye. We just wanted to be here to make sure that someone actually showed up. Hand off the keys and the deed." She passed over the objects in question then eyed the building like someone looked at a convicted murderer. Then she glanced back toward Jesse with some combination of pity and support. "That place took so much from us. And then deigned to spit half of it back in our face. Changed, no longer what it once was. So if you find my uncle, or my dad's hand, burn them because they don't belong to us anymore. And then burn that fucking place to the ground while you're at it. It's not worth letting it stick around." She averted her eyes and sighed softly. "Probably can't be destroyed anyway, so... whatever."

"Please forgive her. She's the poetic one." Chad nudged her in the ribs with his elbow. "But she's right. The smartest thing you can do is drop a bomb on this place and leave the mystery alone."

Jesse instantly, reflexively glanced back to where Emily was standing with the ranger. "Believe me, I would, but she would tear my heart out through my ribcage if I did that. But I promise that we'll be treating this place with the utmost caution and care."

"It won't matter..." was all that Daisy muttered before going back to their car. Chad at least gave her one last apologetic smile, then joined her.

Only after they left did Emily finally return to her side, watching the car go, then nervously glancing toward Jesse. "That... didn't look like it went well."

This wasn't good. Exploring this place would be putting both their lives on the line. And if anything happened to Emily, Jesse would never be able to forgive herself. But still she knew... She would stand by her friend no matter how far into hell they went.

* * *

After that, things began to slow down. As more rangers and researchers rolled in and they were able to put together a proper base camp, they now had help measuring the house and keeping constant tabs on its dimensions. Any shifts at all were to be reported directly to Emily. There was also equipment for measuring various other factors - heat, light, electricity, and even more complicated shit that Jesse still didn't fully understand.

As night fell, the two of them settled into their own private tent. Emily had desperately wanted to sleep in the house, but pretty much everyone had put the kibosh on that, fast. No point in exposing themselves to potential danger until absolutely necessary.

Jesse was idly messing with the Service Weapon, flipping it back and forth between different forms, just trying to occupy her whirling thoughts. She suddenly became aware of Polaris tinkling somewhere in the distance. "Hm?" Following the sense, she realized she was being led over toward the house again. "Come on, do we really need to be messing around in this place right now?" She very quickly received a much louder response this time. "Jesus, fine..."

Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned to see Emily trailing after her. "What's going on?"

"Polaris is being a little jackass about something. Guess she's just as excited about exploring this place as you are..."

Emily began to pout, which was new ~~and very cute~~. "Are you saying I'm a little jackass too?"

"You can be," she admitted. It wasn't like that was a secret. Emily could be kind of a shit sometimes. It was half the reason she could be so charming. "But, you know. In a good way." Polaris continued to get louder in her head until it was hard to concentrate on anything else. "Sorry, I-I just uhh... need to..." Her feet carried her into the living room where a familiar sensation suddenly overwhelmed her. "I know this..."

"Know what?"

Rather than try and answer with words that would only be fumbling and useless, Jesse instead just extended out her hand toward a spot in the middle of the floor. A sort of trembling went from her brainstem down along her arm, and out her hand. There was a memorable 'whoosh' sound as... something changed in the space. "This is a Control Point. Just like in The Oldest House. This is... fucking wild."

The room was suddenly filled with the sound of eager applause coming from Emily who was clapping her hands together like an excited schoolgirl. "Do you know what this means??"

"I definitely don't..."

"Neither do I!" she said with more joy than Jesse had maybe ever seen her display before.


	3. Chapter 3

Jesse was pacing around base camp, feeling progressively more worried. With access to a Control Point, she was able to effectively force a hallway to show itself in the living room. A team of rangers had been sent in to begin investigating and scouting. They were supposed to return within three days, and it was now well into day four. Jesse would always be willing to throw herself in the line of danger no matter what. But she always hated asking anyone else to do it. Which probably made her thought process pretty easy to follow. Emily certainly caught on quickly.

"You want to go in after them, don't you?" She gently laid a hand on her shoulder, which tensed reflexively before slowly relaxing.

Jesse nodded her head slowly, giving a long low sigh before finally turning to look at her friend. "It's a bad idea, right? I should trust them."

Surprisingly, Emily grinned and started shaking her head. "Trench was a good director, but the last time he took direct action, our home base was overrun with Hiss. You know how to actually get things done. If your instincts are telling you to look for them, then I say we listen to your instincts."

"That sounds very... un-science-y." ~~There was something attractive about Emily branching out and trying something new.~~

That earned her a humble shrug, as Emily cast her eyes to the side, cheeks going just the slightest bit red. "It's this new thing I'm trying where I stop over-intellectualizing everything all the time. How am I doing so far?"

Now Jesse's instincts were telling her to read way too much into this, but she chose to ignore them. There was no way in hell it had anything to do with her. Just an earnest attempt at self-improvement. "I mean, I'm pretty biased when it comes to gut-listening. But you don't seem to be gagging at the idea of trusting instincts, so you must be doing alright."

Emily chanced a look toward the house, imposing despite its banality. "Should I... come with you?"

"Not yet. This is a rescue mission. In and out, fast as possible. Once it's time for research, you'll be the first one through the door. For now, I need you out here, keeping everyone in line while I'm gone."

"I'm gonna be holding you to that, Faden. Now go get geared up, we don't want those rangers waiting any longer than they have to."

* * *

Sure, you couldn't bring complicated tech into the house, but the Bureau had a lot of other tricks up their sleeve. Jesse stood on the threshold of the hallway, kitted out with survival gear, as well as a giant spool of lightweight cable, codenamed Ariadne's Thread, because Emily was a goddamn ~~adorable~~ nerd. They'd created it by converting black rock into a kind of metal, then weaving it together. Light as a feather, stronger than diamond.

"Okay, I'm going in. Give me 24 hours, and if I'm not back, or completely radio silent..." She stopped for a moment, unsure exactly how to continue that statement. Truth be told, if she managed to locate and free the rangers but still got trapped herself, she would prefer they just decimate the house. But to actually make that call was hard. Instead, she simply looked back into Emily's eyes. "I'll leave it up to you. You already know rule number one: put them first. Worry about me last. The Bureau can always find another Director."

Emily's brow furrowed with concern and she slowly took a step toward her. "Jesse-" She cut herself off, gnawing on her lower lip. "...you know I can't do that..." she said in a whisper so low even she could barely hear. "I'll come get you myself if I have to."

_I want to tell her that's not possible. I want to send her back to the Bureau where she's relatively safe. I want to burn this fucking place to the ground and never think about it again. But that look on her face... She means what she says. There's no turning back now. We just have to accept that we've created a monster._

"Okay." That was all she said before turning back and striding through the door.

* * *

_I thought The Oldest House was dark but this is... a whole new level. Like everything has been painted with antimatter. This flashlight isn't doing jack shit except telling me a split second before I run into a wall._

The first thing that really made Jesse aware of how much trouble she was in was the Service Weapon. It was a small nervous habit she'd developed, to pull the gun out and idly flip it back and forth between forms. Except this time, it didn't appear. No matter how hard she concentrated, it wouldn't pop into her hand.

_Okay, don't panic. No panicking. Even the light in this place is wrong. Of course it would interfere with the damn thing. So what? The only thing that even haunts this place is a bunch of noises. Just like Emily said, it's all a metaphor for trauma. As long as I can pick up chunks of the walls and hurl them, I'm just fine._

To prove it to herself, she reached out, intended to retrieve a piece of a nearby wall. Except nothing happened. No familiar 'whoosh', no hearty cluster of plaster and wood. Just an idiot holding her hand out at nothing.

_That's... less good. Still, I spent years of my life getting along just fine without any kind of fancy superpowers. You're scrappy and smart. And hey, you've got an extradimensional entity for a best friend. Right Polaris?_

_...Polaris...?_

_...fuck._

As if to drive home how utterly screwed she was, a long low growl began to fill the air. That sounded like a hell of a lot more than just a metaphor. If Former had taught her anything, it's that you should never discount the possibility that minotaurs might actually be real.

* * *

Jesse was hanging on by a thread. Literally as well as physically. She looked down at the spool she carried and thought about just going back. After all, without Polaris or her powers or her gun, what was she really? A husk of a woman. Not even a real woman. A bit of make-up painted on an empty shell with long hair.

She's 11 again, and there's no such thing as a slide projector. Just her and Dylan, and she's telling him that just maybe she wasn't meant to be a boy, and he says okay, and then they go get ice cream.

She's 12 and Dylan is gone and mom and dad are gone and Ordinary is gone but Polaris is there and she says hey Polaris Jesse can be a boy's name or a girl's name right? And Polaris sings in response and she knows that her friend understands. Even if her foster family doesn't.

She's 18 and she's lying about her age ~~and she's lying about her gender~~ and she's working in a bar and she's lying in bed with some random woman and she's lying about how long she'll be around. By sunrise she'll be gone, on to the next town, on to the next clue, on to the next thread.

It took ten years but the thread did lead to the Bureau. ~~To Emily.~~ And if she needs to she can follow this thread back to the Bureau too. ~~Back to Emily.~~

But...

She's Director now. And there's a job to be done.

* * *

How

many

hours

  
  


had

  
  


it

  
  


  
  


been?

  
  


It was hard enough telling time back at the Bureau, without windows. But now it was doubly problematic when you didn't even have a clock you could depend on. Jesse couldn't be sure how close she was to that twenty four hour mark. But she hadn't completely worn herself out yet, so by a rough estimate it couldn't have been more than eight yet. The problem was that the spiral staircase was notoriously hard to predict. She stared down through the center at the infinite abyss and sighed. They had to be down there. She'd searched most of the immediate area that she felt comfortable exploring. Besides, those were the instructions she'd given them. Get as far as the bottom of the stairs and then report back.

So. She took the stairs.

If you held a gun to her head and forced her to guess, Jesse had probably been walking down them for roughly three hours now. She was no scientist nor mathematician, but that had to put it at a couple miles tall, right?

_Right?_

_Ah shit, right, no Polaris. Fuck this house..._

It was pretty much only pure happenstance that she finally reached the bottom of the stairs by the time her energy began to flag. Jesse sat down with her back against the final step, rooting through her bag for one of the MREs and a bottle of water. It wasn't much but it would keep her going a little longer.

_I would try and take a nap, ask Polaris to wake me up after an hour. Without her here, I just... Fuck, I can't keep lingering on this. Of course the house would find a way to take away someone so important to me. How the hell do you live in this house for more than a month? How do you grow up in any way adjusted??_

"Director Faden!" A voice from off to her right snapped Jesse out of her internal monologue. She hurried to down the last of her water and 'food' before scrambling to investigate. Standing there in a dim doorway was Ranger Martinez. Just beyond was a small room where the other scouts were all settled in with all their gear and just enough lights to chase away the gloom. "I knew you'd find us! This is your wheelhouse, after all. This sort of... terrain."

Jesse decided not to explain why it wasn't that simple. "Thank Christ you're all okay. But the stairs are literally right there. Why didn't you return to base camp?"

Martinez motioned behind herself to where they had laid out a very familiar-looking circle made of duct tape with a few intersecting lines. "We weren't next to the stairs an hour ago. But we wanted to make sure we didn't lose this. Our scanners found a Control Point."

For a moment, nothing in the world mattered but that damned circle. Pushing past the woman, Jesse practically threw herself into the middle of it. Concentrating with all her might, she finally heard it. A whoosh, then a faint tune drifted into her mind, the most beautiful sound ever, and she broke into heavy sobs. Her friend was back. Everything would be okay.

* * *

In the end, Martinez took the lead. She saw the cable that Jesse had brought along and rightly surmised that it would lead them back to safety. She rallied the others and led them out of the room to give their Director some space. It was appreciated, but that didn't make it any easier. _I thought I had lost you. Where did you go??_ The response she got was muddled. If a tinkling noise could include question marks, Polaris had managed to sort out how. _Another big fat mystery. Go figure. I'm just glad you're back. We can work out these mysteries later. For now, let's just get the hell out. Can you teleport me back here once I get everyone out?_ Polaris once again signaled in her mind, in the affirmative. _Good._

Jesse climbed up to her feet, reflexively giving a flick of her hand, feeling the Service Weapon pop into place. "Alright, let's move out!" She was going to rip this place apart, board by board.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the tension last chapter, I wanted to take a break with some fluff. It's my strong suit, so please enjoy before we resume the madness.

Jesse sat on her cot. With one arm, she kept her knees pulled up to her chest. In her free hand she held a chunk of rock, levitating it and making it slowly rotate. Getting out of the house had actually been incredibly easy. After activating that Control Point, it was like the place acceded just a little bit to their demands. The dimensions of it were no longer so impossibly huge - merely mansion-level. There were still hundreds of stairs up, and the grand hall was easily the size of a football field. Even the darkness was less oppressive.

The truly upsetting thing was Ariadne's Thread. Unlike in the book where signage and markings were ripped up and torn, the house seemed to have treated it with great care. At certain points where the length of the cord was no longer necessary, a section of it would be very carefully spooled up in place. It was as though Jesse had been followed by a very conscientious roadie. Somehow, that was the thing that truly broke her in the moment. As soon as they stepped their way into the living room, she didn't address anyone, didn't say anything. She let the rangers take care of debriefing. Instead, she just came here to hide away in her tent and brood.

That didn't last very long, though. Of-fucking-course, Emily came to check on her. If it was anyone else she could have just ordered them to go away, but not her.

"Jesse, what happened in there?"

She sighed and continued to rotate the rock, moving it in a slow circle around her wrist. "Lost the Service Weapon. Lost my powers. Lost-" Her voice started to crack, eyes watering. "I lost her. I lost Polaris. I couldn't hear her, I couldn't feel her. I was just alone with nothing but me." Jesse did her best to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat. "I can't go back in there. I can't."

Emily moved in close, sitting down near her on the edge of the cot, looking on with intense concern. Slowly she reached out and plucked the rock from where it hovered, tossing it aside. "Hey. You are the bravest person I know. You conquered the entire Bureau, drove out an encroaching enemy force, and brought order back into our lives." Suddenly she seemed to catch herself before she got too deep into her inspiring speech. "...if you say we need to forget about this place and go back home, then that's what we'll do."

That's not what she had been expecting. Emily had been so dead-set on exploring the house and studying it in the name of Science. Here she was saying that she was willing to walk away from that?? ~~_I love this woman so goddamn much._~~ _I can't do that to her. But how in the hell can I go back inside that place again?_ Jesse sniffled softly and started to wipe at her eye. "I haven't been without Polaris in like a decade and a half. I didn't realize how much I got used to having her there. The idea of going through that a second time? I-It's a lot."

Suddenly, Emily was moving in closer, sitting across from her, grabbing her hands. She held them firmly, looking directly into her eyes. However, after that, she simply sat there in silence for a few moments. "...maybe... I could be your Polaris. For when she's not around..." It came out as barely a mumble. Jesse was positive she had misheard some part of that.

_What?_

"Wh-What?"

"I just... I-I could be your Polaris. I'll be there for you, when she can't." Emily cleared her throat, still fiddling with Jesse's hand. She idly brushed her fingertips along the back and palm, tracing the skin gently. "I get jealous of her sometimes... You talk with her all the time. She gets to live in your head and hear all your thoughts. She's known you for years..."

The entity in her mind began dancing, responding with a high-pitched tinkling noise.

Jesse's breathing was shallow and fast. Her face was flushed. _You're not helping, jackass._ Ever so carefully, she pushed herself to sit a little taller. "Well. I mean. At least you can talk back and not just make obscure little noises. And..." Jesse wanted to pick her words carefully, just in case she was somehow still misreading the situation. "It's safe to say you spend a fair amount of time in my head. Plus, being Director is a lifetime appointment. You're stuck with me for a long time. So, y'know, you'll catch up to her in no time."

"You think about me that much?" Emily was basically whispering now. Not like either of them wanted people outside the tent to hear this private moment.

Polaris was basically laughing now. After all she'd had to put up with this the last few weeks. It was only natural she'd be rather annoying about it. "Uh, y-yeah, a lot. Sorry, that's probably pretty weird."

"No, it's good! I've never had someone... think about me before. I mean, I would assume." Laughing nervously, her eyes went over toward the entrance of their tent, then flickered back to Jesse's face. "We should give everyone a while to recover. And that includes you. No more messing with the house today. Doctor's orders." Slowly she leaned forward, hovering ever closer. "I'll be here to make sure you're doing okay..."

_Oh to hell with it._

Jesse carefully disentangled her hands from Emily's, bringing them to rest lightly against her cheeks. From there, she tugged her in closer, always keeping the pace slow and easy. Just in case she was somehow still misreading things and the other woman needed to pull away at the last second. ~~Like the big idiot lesbian she was.~~

Finally, she did what she'd been wanting to do since Emily walked out of that saferoom.

~~They kissed.~~ Wait, no, but it was actually real this time. They were kissing. Jesse was kissing Emily. Sure, her lips were a little bit chapped, and her technique was rather awkward. But that didn't matter one goddamn bit. Jesse knew that the last twenty four hours hadn't been kind to her either, mentally or physically.

She did eventually release the kiss, pulling back with what was undoubtedly a dopey-ass smile. "So, I wanna ask you to cuddle up with me, but these cots aren't exactly built for more than one person..."

"Shoot." Her face actually took on a kind of mockery of her 'I'm doing Science' look as she glanced back and forth between their two temporary beds. "Really lacking in foresight that we didn't consider this issue. I'm clearly going to have to engineer something when we get back to the Bureau. In the meantime, I think I can suffer with this for a few hours..."

_In for a penny, in for a pound. No point in being bashful now that you've planted one on her lips._ Jesse carefully laid herself out on her side, then helped Emily to slip into 'little spoon' position. She held her tight, arms wrapped around her stomach. Without a shred of embarrassment, she burrowed her face into the back of her neck and nuzzled gently. "You're incredible..."

"Hm, I seem to recall talking to yourself is a bad sign. You okay there, Director Faden?"

Jesse groaned, having forgotten for a blissful moment that Emily liked to make a lot of terrible jokes. It was something she liked about her, but also drove her insane. It was love. And she was insanely grateful that she didn't have to ignore that any longer.

* * *

You couldn't really call it a picnic. But they were sitting on a crappy little blanket 'ten minutes in any direction' from the house, away from its oppressive atmosphere. And they had some canned food and a bit of booze Jesse had squirreled away. Not to mention the sun going down in the distance, setting the sky on fire in brilliant shades of red and pink.

So it was the closest they were going to get for now. It kind of reminded Jesse of her first few days at the Bureau, camping out in the Director's office with Emily, trying to make entire meals out of shit you could buy in vending machines. Obviously getting rid of the Hiss was important. But also, Jesse was pretty sure she would have done damn near anything to be free of those bags of 'Chips' and 'Cookies', and cans of 'Soda'.

"Oh my god, seriously? It was _actually_ love at first sight? Ugh, and I looked like such crap that day. We'd been stuck in that saferoom for so long and I was all terrified and frustrated and..." Emily sighed and bit into something that was more or less bread, chasing it with a swig of whiskey. "I didn't think I'd be able to net someone so hot, even on my best day. And you're telling me I can get it while looking like a mess?"

"I feel like there are several things I need to address here. First of all, thank you for calling me hot. Girls like me need all the ego-boosting we can get. Second, I'm sure you _felt_ gross, but you _looked_ amazing. Your hair was perfectly coiffed and you were well-dressed and... I mean, other than Ahti you were the first friendly face I saw in that building." She sighed softly and ate a sporkful of beans. "So come on, out with it, what about you? When did you realize you were madly in love with me?"

Emily rolled her eyes, and maybe Jesse felt a thrill of victory at finally being the one to say something so ridiculous that she got a visceral reaction. "Um, so maybe this is kind of awkward but... Do you remember when you started containing the Objects of Power and surpassed pretty much everyone who had ever used them before? And you actually agreed to participate in some experiments?" Jesse could feel her face light up in a giant grin. She should have known. The moment that she and science intersected was the moment Emily fell for her. It didn't get much more 'Emily Pope' than that. "You were so comfortable with that level of power, and so humble about it. I'd never met anyone like you before. Also... I mean... that jawline."

That finally caused her to break out in bright laughter. It had been a long time since she'd done that.

"What? It's true!"

Jesse shook her head, leaning over to nuzzle into Emily's cheek, kissing her skin lightly. "I just really like you, and who you are as a person, and all your quirks and everything. Though I guess I'm a little frustrated by the realization that we could have been doing this much sooner. I spent too many weeks burying stuff I thought wouldn't be returned." She hurried to get another glug of booze before she ended up saying something even more embarrassing.

To her surprise, Emily didn't make a joke this time, or even tease her for opening up. She just shrugged humbly, face glowing a lovely shade of red. "Well, things can really only happen when they happen. Worrying about what-ifs is wasted mental effort." She looked out toward the setting sun thoughtfully. "At least until we find an OoP that allows time travel. But I think we'll have way more to worry about than getting a few extra weeks of intimacy."

"Ugh, I don't even want to think about the level of chaos something like that could set off. No more office talk." She put aside the empty can and half-finished bottle before settling closer to Emily. "Tomorrow we can start fresh and give the house a proper exploration. For now, I need a distraction." She did the same to Emily's food, setting it aside before fluidly pushing up so that she could straddle her lap.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Polaris dutifully turned her back to give them some space. Metaphorically speaking. You had to take what you could get.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bolded text in this chapter are all excerpts from the same game, Anatomy, by kittyhorrorshow. If any of them resonate with you, I would highly recommend checking it out, or watching a let's play. It's incredible, and fit the themes of this too well to ignore.

Was it the best time to try and teleport multiple people across control points in a single jump? Probably not. Did it work? Yes. So Jesse was willing to accept that as a victory. Though she did feel a bit bad for Emily and all the rangers who all seemed to be suffering from a minor bout of nausea. Slowly she rubbed her hand over the blonde's back while Martinez saw to the rest of her own squad. "Sorry, I forgot how scary it can be, your first time."

The unintentional double entendre just made Emily laugh softly and she seemed to finally work through her stomach pains. "Come on, not in front of the others."

"Didn't hear a thing..." mumbled Martinez.

* * *

The house seemed... different now. Still dark, still terrifying. And the knowledge that at any moment Polaris might once again disappear was fairly distressing. But the place didn't feel nearly as oppressive or threatening. It simply... was. Dangerous and impossible, but not nearly as much out of spite or anything. At least, that was the impression that Jesse got. She didn't bother voicing it since Emily's whole thing was data and reason. You couldn't measure a hunch.

She could tell that Emily was eager to go wandering - wanting to take samples from the walls and floors, investigate every nook and crevice there was. It was some combination of self-control and a firm grip on her hand that kept the woman from running off everywhere.

Truth be told, that was only part of the reason that Jesse was even holding her hand so firmly. The physical contact also kept her grounded. The house may not have felt as actively threatening, but only in the same way that a cat might not be actively threatening. Give it long enough, and some small movement would cause those pupils to dilate, the haunches to bristle. And always, somewhere, there was that damn minotaur.

"Remind me exactly what the plan is, Director?"

Jesse glanced back over her shoulder at Martinez, tall and imposing even in the gloom. "We make our way to the next control point, claim it, and then move on. We find three and still no end in sight? We'll return topside and come up with a new plan."

"Roger that."

* * *

Now that she knew what to look out for, it was easier for Jesse to realize when she couldn't feel Polaris any more. There was less panic, but it still left her with a sense of unease and a general sickness in her stomach. "Okay, we're entering uncharted waters here, people. Game faces on..."

She couldn't be sure why she said it that way. Like any moment something bad was going to happen. As if an entire enemy force was going to drop on their heads from nowhere. She was just trying to keep up the whole 'Director' shtick.

Except that's kind of exactly what happened. Not an entire squadron or anything. But something came charging out of the darkness, colliding straight into Emily. There was a series of sickening noises as she was wrenched away from Jesse's grasp. She collapsed to the ground, arms and legs at unfortunate angles. Before she could yell out any orders to the rangers, she felt something heavy slam into her, and something dense pierce her chest through her heart. A horn. She'd been gored. The minotaur was here, Emily was dying, and she wasn't far behind herself.

* * *

**I dream that there are teeth growing all over me. They are everywhere on me, and in me, like… cysts, or bone spurs. I can scratch at none of them because I have no hands. I look out through the bedroom window and I see a truck approaching. A young man steps out, approaches and enters through the front door. His body is covered in swollen cuts the size of quarters. He’s walking through the downstairs hallway and laughing, and begins urinating on the wall. He spits on the carpet. He’s moving through the first floor, breaking and upsetting things. He goes to the basement and stands at the top of the stairs. I’m angry at him, so I slam the door and he falls down. I can feel his bones snapping. The cuts are bursting, oozing old, dark blood everywhere. I can feel him being ground up, dissolved and torn, splitting and shredding… but I leave the door closed. I close my eyes and try to sleep. The teeth continue growing on me until there is nothing left of me but… teeth, and gum, some sinew.**

* * *

"Jesse? Jesse!"

"Wha...? E-Emily??" Finally snapping back to reality, Jesse was immediately aware of the fact that she was not dying, not even injured. She was still standing, still holding Emily's hand. "You're okay."

"Of course I'm okay!" She looked more exasperated than anything. "You just stopped walking all of a sudden. Your eyes bugged out and you were hyperventilating. What the hell happened?"

Only after being told what she'd been doing did Jesse realize just how lightheaded and weak she felt. Shutting her eyes tight, she forced her body to listen to her and do as it was told. _You're going to be fine, idiot. Get a hold of yourself. You're scaring everyone. Just... fucking breathe._ "Had this super-real nightmare. You and I were attacked, dying. S-Some kind of monster. It looked and felt so real..."

Before she could rant any further about what happened, Emily silenced her with a tight hug. "We're okay. This place is messing with you, just like before. I don't know why it hates you so much, but I've seen you fight things that are more powerful and more hateful. So come on, we have to keep moving."

"You're right. Of course you're right. Hah, you're always right..." Jesse laughed, hugging her back tightly before urging everyone to continue moving. _This place will not fucking beat me._

* * *

It took a while to find a control point, though not as long as Jesse's first excursion into the house. Having found a safe spot, everyone settled in to rest for a few hours. While they didn't want to get too far away from the squad, Jesse and Emily did settle in a small distance from the others. They sat on the ground, leaning on one another. Neither said anything, but it was a comforting experience to have this reprieve together.

Slowly, Jesse's head began to dip, and sleep began to claim her.

In her dream, she was alone again. But rather than being vast and infinite, the lower portion of the house was nothing but a single room. Not black, but a kind of oppressive crimson. It was deadly silent, and the room had no doors in or out. The silence was suddenly pierced by a loud noise almost like static from a cassette. Veins and flesh started to grow out of the walls. A voice filled her head, almost like a version of the Board from an alternate reality. The words bypassed her ears and boomed inside her head.

**"There is an important distinction that must be drawn between the words 'dissection' and 'vivisection'. A distinction that would appear to be lost on you. The worst of us can listen, and yet at every turn you have pried, you have prodded, and you have interfered. Have you not been paying attention? Did it not occur to you that as a vermin existing inside of a greater organism, your intrusion would be felt? And still you harassed. And now, like the wayward spider who witlessly stumbles upon a sleeper’s tongue, you will be swallowed. Because the truth is this: when a house is both hungry and awake, every room becomes a mouth."**

Everything went black, and then her eyes snapped open. Things were back to normal, and Jesse never would have expected to be glad to see the deep blackness of the house. Emily was snoozing against her shoulder, and in spite of everything she smiled softly. _You wanna tangle? Chew me up and spit me out, bitch. I'll just come back angrier than before. I'm ending this._

She continued to gently rub Emily's back, infinitely grateful that she didn't seem to be experiencing the same horrors as herself. As always, she was willing to accept tiny victories.

* * *

"...I've seen this before..." Jesse was mostly talking to herself, not necessarily informing anyone else actively. It was only because Emily was practically hanging off her arm that she could hear her.

The two of them were staring at a tall stone tablet, easily eight feet tall and three feet across. Etched into it was a runic version of a tree. All she could really do was stare at it in disbelief. A control point made sense. She could wrap her head around that. It was like all that information she'd found around the Bureau about leylines. But she had foolishly assumed that these things could only exist in The Oldest House. But then again, past-Jesse didn't know about Ash Tree Lane.

"These were scattered around the Foundation."

Emily looked appropriately blown away. " _Our_ Foundation?"

"The same. They were parts of The Nail. Go figure one of these bastards would be here." Strolling around the other side of it, Jesse was shocked by what she saw, a second time in as many minutes. Unlike any of the others, there was text on the back.

Y g g  
d  
r  
a  
s  
i  
l  
  
What miracle is this? This giant tree.  
It stands ten thousand feet high  
But doesn't reach the ground. Still it stands.  
Its roots must hold the sky.  
  
O

"What do you make of this...?"

Emily practically jogged around to join her, obviously eager to find out what could be more surprising than the current revelation. "Oh. That... actually explains a great deal."

Her head practically snapped to the side. _I can't have heard that right. What the hell does this explain? Literally nothing about any of this makes sense._ "Uhh... How?"

Already she had pulled out a small notebook and was sketching out the strange inscription for her records. "Yggdrasil is the tree that connects all the worlds in Norse mythology. This whole time, I've been trying to figure out what connects our Burea's headquarters and this house. But now I'm wondering if perhaps they were both born from the same source. For all we know, somewhere there are roots that connect the Foundation, this labyrinth, and countless other Places of Power!" She scribbled a few more hasty notes, humming softly to herself. "Fascinating..."

Jesse just sighed softly and leaned against the large tablet. "I'm glad we've finally found something that makes all of this worth it." It hadn't even occurred to Jesse to actually look beyond the spot until now. Unlike much of the rest of this godforsaken place, there was really only one direction to go. The hall terminated at a plain-looking door. It was ominous only in one simple detail. It wasn't black.

It was crimson.

Jesse drew in a long, deep breath, then exhaled all her nerves and worries. "Emily, you stay here and keep researching this. Squad, you stay back and keep her safe. I think I just found the end of this place." Her voice must have sounded at least a little bit steady because they all simply nodded in understanding.

Though Emily did at least take a second to grab her by the hand, pulling her in for a passionate kiss. "What's that thing they used to say? Come back with your shield, or on it?" She got a rueful smile, clicking her tongue. "Well to hell with that. Do what you have to do and then get back here. I'm not leaving without you."

With that last burst of courage, Jesse stepped through the door.

* * *

**"What happens to a house when it is left alone? When it becomes wan, and aged? When its paint peels, and its foundations begin to sink? When it goes for too long unlived in?"**

The room was just as red as it had been in her vision, though at least so far there was no flesh. What there was, however, appeared to be an altar. The stone it was composed from looked somehow even older than the tablet outside.

**"What does it think of? What does it dream?"**

Sitting on the altar was a single object, a small statuette maybe a foot tall. A minotaur. The Minotaur. The aura radiating off of it was all too familiar. Like the floppy disk. Like the safe. "You son of a goddamn bitch. All this time, it was a fucking Object of Power? I can't believe this..." She stomped her way over to the altar, hands shooting out to exert her influence over the damned thing before it caused any further pain to anyone.

But it wasn't going down without a fight. The Minotaur was repelling her with a force she'd never experienced before. The voice continued to drone on in her mind, only making her more and more angry.

**"It may grow bitter. It may grow hungry. So hungry, and so bitter, that its screwbolts dissolve and its doors unlock themselves. While a house may hunger, it cannot starve. And so, in fever and anger and loneliness, it may simply lie in wait. Doors open. Shades drawn. Hallways empty. Hungry."**

"Fuck you." Her hands finally pushed past the barrier and her fingers came in contact with the cold stone. "I'm going to bury you in the deepest part of the Panopticon. I'm going to cover you in concrete and barbed wire and put a hundred rangers on duty to guard you at all times. I'm going to pipe in polka music 24/7. You will never know rest. You hear me!? I am Jesse Faden, Director of the Bureau of Control, and nobody messes with me, or the people I love. You belong to me now."

A tinkling sound filled her mind, and laughter bubbled up from Jesse's core. "There's my girl. Thanks for the eleventh hour assist."


	6. Chapter 6

With Polaris at her side, quelling the Minotaur wasn't nearly so difficult. Before she knew it, Jesse had the statuette in her hands and she was walking back out to find the others. Emily was clearly glad to see her, but almost as quickly she switched into Science mode and started closely inspecting the small stone beast. "All that for this little guy, huh?"

"Right? It's... almost kind of insulting. But I guess that's the weird thing about Objects of Power. They're all so normal."

Emily gave it a few experimental pokes. "Hm. I'll have to run this by some of our specialists. I wonder how old it is..." She glanced back and forth between the statuette and Jesse, watching her curiously for a moment. "So what does it do?"

"You mean besides rain down hell and annoyance? I think maybe it creates illusions? Hard to say without some practice. And frankly, I wanna get as far away from this place as I possibly can before I use it."

Just as suddenly, Jesse found herself being pulled into a tight hug with the other woman. "I'm glad you're okay..."

She couldn't help but laugh a little bit in surprise and embarrassment. "Yeah. Yeah, me too." It was time to get the hell away from here.

* * *

Jesse could understand inheriting Trench's gun and his office and his job. It was kind of weird inheriting his apartment. Needless to say it took a while to properly change out all of the decorations and furniture until it felt like the kind of place that Jesse Faden would live, not Zachariah Trench.

With the nonsense over and behind them, she was eager to spend some alone time with Emily that didn't include a tiny-ass cot and military rations.

"Kind of... weird being here for um... different reasons than usual..." Emily muttered softly as she stepped into the living room and sat down on the couch. She looked visibly nervous, which was both funny and adorable considering just how simple things had been for them up until now. Still, now that they were both back home, it kind of made the fact that they were sort-of-girlfriends more real.

Jesse whipped up some easy pasta for the both of them to enjoy. Then they spent some time on the couch, making out while pointedly not watching whatever show she'd put on in the background. But sooner or later the tone of things meant they could really only end up in one place. Still in the middle of a passionate kiss, Jesse began slowly walking backwards toward her bedroom, only ever breaking the kiss long enough to make sure she wasn't walking directly into a wall.

Everything was going perfectly. Nothing could ruin a night like this.

At least that was what she figured, until clothes started coming off and it looked like Emily was about to have a panic attack. And there really wasn't any possible way to misread the situation, which absolutely sucked. Her eyes were trained squarely between Jesse's legs, and she was already starting to shake her head unconsciously. "I-I'm really sorry... I thought-" She started to get up from the bed, already putting her own clothing back on in a scattered hurry. "I can't do this. I-I can't. I'm so sorry, Jesse." In a flash, she was dressed and already bolting for the door.

She felt so small in that moment, like a child again. Like it would always be this way. Even after finding the most perfect person ever, things could never actually work out. This was it, just... this, forever. Always disappointing, always failing.

There was a sudden sound in her mind like a bat being taken to a set of wind chimes.

" _What_ , Polaris?! What could possibly be so important that-" Jesse didn't finish the statement. She didn't need to. She looked around herself and realized that she was standing in the red room, still holding the statuette - hands practically wrapped around its neck. "Th-That was... It just... It did that to me?"

The tinkling this time was gentler, more uncertain.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

Sometimes Polaris made noises that could really only be translated as a series of question marks.

"Fine, whatever. Please, let's just actually do this now."

* * *

This time it felt more familiar, more like all the other Objects of Power. Jesse met resistance, and before she knew it, she'd been zapped away to another plane of reality. She looked around at the floating geometry and sighed softly. "Okay, safe to say we're in reality again... Unfortunately." Like second nature, the Service Weapon popped into her hand and she began scanning around for signs of trouble.

It didn't take that long to find. You couldn't miss the giant man-beast even if you were trying to ignore it. At least if the damn thing were terrifying and bearing down on her, Jesse could have felt the familiar sensation of adrenaline pumping through her. But no. It just looked sad and tired. Immediately she remembered that crossed-out text from the book, about Frat Boy Theseus and the poor, misunderstood creature. She felt bad for him. There was no way in hell she could approach this with her usual method.

"Hey. Hey big guy..." She approached slowly with a hand outstretched - like she was approaching a goddamn dog or cat. It huffed at her, breathing out a cloud of visible steam, and nearly seemed to lash out. But Jesse at least knew that in situations like this you had to try and keep calm, be confident, all that shit. So she kept moving closer, until her hand nearly came in contact with his muzzle. From this distance, she could now see all the scars that marred his face and body, and the places where parts of his horns had been chipped off.

"Look, if it's any consolation, I know a thing or two about hating your body and feeling like a monster. So like... no judgments here if you don't really trust me. Honestly, I don't even know how to help you or... or whatever. So how about we just bumble our way through this together, yeah?"

His fur was bristly to the touch, so much so that it felt like you could stab the shit out of your hand if you brushed him in the wrong direction. "I know a place that's really safe. I can take you somewhere even more secure than a big maze. Or, well, I mean it's still a maze. But it has some really nice people, and super strong walls. And no douchebag with a sword is gonna come after you. You'll be able to sleep and relax for as long as you need to. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?" His eyes slowly slid closed, and he gave another low huffing noise. "I've got a friend who I think can help you sleep. What do you say, Polaris?"

Everything started to grow warm and soft, and everything disappeared in a blooming wall of white.

**< The Man/Beast/Bastard can give The Director control over Shifting/Moving/Growing Places of Power. We have been searching for Him/It for Many Years. >**

Jesse sighed as she snapped back to reality yet again, looking down at the statue in her hands. "Okay, well. _Most_ of the people in the Bureau are nice."

* * *

Exiting the small room, it was a shocking sight to see Emily and the others standing around in a very plain looking basement. Not... an infinite abyss, no longer so dark and oppressive. Just a basement. Though the large tablet was still standing tall there in the middle of everything.

"Jesse!" Suddenly she was wrapped up in another tight hug, desperate lips pressing against her own. By the time she had her thoughts in order, Emily was already pulling back to look into her face, making sure she was okay. "We heard shouting, and suddenly everything shifted and it was... like this. What did you do??"

She lifted up the small statue and sighed. "Found an Object of Power. Uh, weirdest thing though... This affects shifting but... Um, still no explanation for why the building affects people on an emotional level the way it does."

One of the rangers came over with a Black Rock box to secure the object.

Emily, for her part, just gave a small shrug. "So the problem is two-fold then. It's still a Place of Power. But at least this house can't trap anyone again. We'll still have to cordon it off and continue researching it." Her head cocked to the side slightly, locking eyes with Jesse, and her entire face was suddenly painted with concern. "Did something else happen?"

There was a pang of hurt in the center of Jesse's chest, and her cheeks began to burn. "Uh. N-Not here. We can talk about it later. It's nothing, really."

Her lips curled into a smirk, and you could practically read the words 'that doesn't look like nothing' that she was thinking but not saying. Instead, Emily just shrugged and allowed her to put the conversation aside for the time being.

* * *

In the end, it was incredibly easy to put that conversation off for a long time. Jesse was able to hide away in work. The Ash Tree Lane AWE had taken a lot of work and resources, and now that it was halfway wrapped up, it meant a shit-ton of paperwork. And that meant Jesse could hide away in her office for long hours at a time with a perpetual 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door. Normally Emily was immune to that kind of rule, but just this once Jesse decided to enforce it universally.

But a woman like Emily couldn't be kept in the dark for very long. It was a quiet Thursday afternoon when she came storming into the Director's office, striding right up to the desk and glaring at her with a fire in her eyes. "Okay, no more distractions. We're talking about this, Jesse. What the hell happened? Why are you ghosting me like this? Talk to me, please."

Well. You couldn't really chase Emily away, not for long, not when she wanted something. Jesse put aside what she'd been working on, then leaned forward, propping her steepled fingers up in front of her, watching Emily cautiously. "Both the Hiss and that house have... burrowed into my mind, and found things I bury deep down, and made me live through them. Back then, it was me being a temp here at the Bureau and everyone hating me. Including you... You were gossiping about me and talking about how amazing my brother was and... I-I don't know, it was awful."

As Emily reached for a chair to sit down, she looked visibly shaken by that simple story. Jesse had told her about the nightmare before. But she'd always skipped the detail that Emily had been there and talked shit on her and maybe also wanted to bone Dylan.

"So uhh... The house made me think that I'd finished and we were heading home. And you and I... We were at my apartment, and heading for the bedroom and..." She groaned, burying her face in her hands. Just saying it out loud made her feel crazy, and made Emily sound like some kind of awful human being. "When you saw the reality of going to bed with someone like me, you took off as fast as you could. I was alone and sad and... Jesus, I don't know. I know it was all just an illusion, the house fucking with me one last time. And it just stuck with me, I couldn't get it out of my head."

Rather than saying anything, Emily just got up from her chair and made her way around the other side of Jesse's desk. She carefully planted herself in her lap and nuzzled into her. "So what I'm hearing is... We need to have sex so that we can get that awful experience out of your head."

The sheer bravado of it all made Jesse break out in bright laughter. "I mean, we don't _need_ to. But... it would be pretty fucking nice."

Emily grinned, stealing one more kiss. "Well then, you'd better lock the door and get this desk cleared off. I don't think I have the patience to wait until we get to your place."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe that's where we're gonna leave this particular story. It's been an absolute ball writing this, and it got so many more views and comments than I ever would have expected. A big big thank you to everyone who gave this attention!


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